


Worth The Wait

by ellebeedarling



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellebeedarling/pseuds/ellebeedarling
Summary: Jacob finds Shepard after the war and finally asks him out for that drink.
Relationships: Male Shepard/Jacob Taylor
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11
Collections: Spectre Requisitions 2020





	Worth The Wait

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BardofHeartDive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardofHeartDive/gifts).



> I saw this pairing and just had to write it! I hope you enjoy this treat!! ♥
> 
> Shout out to my awesome beta for greatly improving this story!!! ♥♥

Jacob didn’t like to think of the first time he’d visited Shepard after the war. The man had been unconscious, connected to every conceivable piece of medical equipment. There was no part of his body that had been functioning on its own. Jacob had followed the hospital’s rules, limiting his visit to five minutes, then walked out the door and never gone back. 

It was too painful to see Shepard like that - weak and vulnerable. It reminded him too much of the first time he’d seen his body on Lazarus Station. Miranda and her team had worked miracles back then, but no one was certain if there would be a repeat performance. 

For months after that visit, he thought about their time aboard the Normandy together, wondering how things might have turned out differently if he’d had the balls to speak up. Shepard had been his CO. The man had experience and Alliance training. Jacob seriously doubted he made a habit of bedding his subordinates. But so many times, Shepard had visited him in the armory, his lonesomeness permeating the air around him like a black cloud. 

It had been written in the man’s eyes even then - a spark of desire, of longing, of just enough reckless abandon to say to hell with the consequences. But Shepard had never voiced it, and Jacob had never acted upon what was so clearly a silent invitation. 

By the time they ran into each other again on Gellix, there was Brynn. 

He and Brynn had tried to make a go of it. More than anything, Jacob wanted to prove himself a better man than his own father had been. He still wasn’t sure that he’d accomplished that, but he was trying. 

Seeing Shepard again then had hurt. Seeing the quiet pain in the man’s eyes had been devastating. But Shepard had been utterly sincere when he’d congratulated him on Brynn’s pregnancy and wished him every happiness. Somehow that had made Jacob feel worse. 

At that moment, he’d known that he didn’t love Brynn, but he couldn’t find it within himself to regret their time together. His son, Asher, was everything to him and would be till the day he died. Maybe his relationship with Brynn was doomed from the start, but Asher was worth the pain of the mistakes he and Brynn had made together. 

Jacob had returned to the Alliance after the war and taken a training post. It paid the bills and kept him out of harm’s way even if it wasn’t the most glamorous job in the world. But becoming a father had a way of throwing things into perspective. His life had to be about Asher now. He and Brynn had managed to get posted to the same base - Jacob a biotics instructor, Brynn in R&D. It made co-parenting that much easier. 

It seemed the Alliance was no longer as picky about its officers as it’d once been. One day in late June, just as the Vancouver temperatures were starting to heat up, Jack waltzed into his office, throwing herself into a chair and tossing her booted feet up onto his desk. Jacob had to laugh. He’d heard through the grapevine that she’d been offered a teaching position with the biotics students before the war had even broken out. 

“Guess who your new partner in crime is?” she asked with a maniacal grin that was quickly replaced by her picking something from her teeth with a fingernail. 

“Jack,” he said with a laugh. “It’s good to see you.” And he meant it. It had been so long since he’d met up with any of the old crew. All of them were scattered to the winds now. Most of them weren’t even on planet anymore. The aliens who’d survived had gone back to their respective homeworlds to work on reconstruction; same as everyone else. 

“Let’s see if you’re still singin’ that tune a week from now when I’ve shown your ass up in front of all your students. I'm gonna beat you 'til  _ candy _ comes out.” 

“Bring it on, sister. I’m not afraid of you."

“You should be.” 

Jacob wasn’t sure if that was a genuine threat or not, so he let it go. They sat in companionable silence for a while. “So what have you been up to, Jack?” 

“Can it, Taylor. You don’t give a fuck about my personal life. What, or  _ who _ , have you been up to? Still seeing that scientist?” 

“And I’m supposed to believe you give a fuck about  _ my _ personal life?” Jacob chuckled. “Fine, I’ll humor you. Brynn and I didn’t last. I still see her regularly because of our son, but she’s married now.” 

“Hm.” 

For a moment, Jacob thought that Jack was fishing for something. She didn’t seem the fixing-up type, and god help him, the thought of Jack wanting to maybe ask him out was outright terrifying. He decided to change the subject. “So, you’re being moved here to Vancouver?” 

Jack did not take the hint. “Whatever happened with you and Shepard?” 

There never had been a him-and-Shepard, but he didn’t want to get into that with her. Besides, “Where in the hell did you get an idea like that?” 

Jack rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Please. You two idiots couldn’t be in the same room for more than five seconds back then without eye-fucking one another. Are you seriously trying to say you never gave it to him?”

“Uh,” Jacob chuckled nervously then began sorting the datapads on his desk, “that’s none of your damn business.” 

“That’d be a no then, huh?” She stared at the ceiling, hands folded behind her head, as if she had all the time in the world to sit and contemplate this calamity. “How long’s it been since you’ve seen him?” 

Three years, eight months, and nineteen days. But who was counting? “A while.” 

“Have you even tried to see him?” 

Jacob sighed and sat his datapads on the desk. “Jack, where the hell is all this coming from? It’s not like you and I were ever that close. I-”

“Maybe I don’t give a fuck about you,” she said, swinging her feet back to the floor with a loud thud. “Maybe Shepard’s the one I care about. Maybe I saw him at the VA in London, and he’s a lonely, pathetic fuck. And maybe I thought you could fucking do something about that. Finally, for once.” 

For such a tiny woman, Jack had always commanded a presence from anyone around her. Jacob wouldn’t be surprised if everyone on this floor had just heard her little motivational speech. He felt the heat spreading up his neck and cheeks. 

“I’m here at Admiral Alenko’s request,” she said after a beat. “I’m supposed to evaluate the program’s training schedule and offer my advice on how to improve. You have a four day weekend. I suggest you use it.” 

Jacob watched her march stoically from his office, her heavy footfalls echoing down the corridor. He pulled up his omnitool and booked passage to London. 

\-----

He’d already heard that the Savior of the Galaxy - as he was known by every news outlet - spent his days at the London Office of Veteran’s Affairs talking with wounded vets, like himself, and even leading group therapy classes. He’d retired from the military at war’s end, offered the brass a list of qualified candidates to be invited to the Spectre and N programs in his stead. Jacob had been honored to hear that his name was on the list, but with Asher in the picture, all he wanted was to provide a stable life for his son. It was an honor he’d quietly refused, and like an ass, he’d never even written or called to thank Shepard. 

He found the man himself in a beaten-up vinyl chair in the large waiting area of the London VA. He cradled a cup of coffee between his knees as he intently watched and listened to the one-legged veteran who sat in a wheelchair across from him. Shepard smiled ruefully at the man, then murmured something Jacob couldn’t quite hear from where he stood near the entrance. 

Shepard hadn’t seen him, and Jacob was glad. It gave him a chance to really observe Shepard in action. A new battlefield to be sure, but Shepard, as always, was in his element. He moved around the room on his cane with quiet confidence. If his bum leg bothered him at all, he held it inside and didn’t let the others in the room see his pain. 

“Typical,” Jacob muttered to himself, but he couldn’t help smiling. Shepard looked good.  _ Damn _ good. He wore a ragged N7 hoodie and a pair of Alliance issue trousers that appeared soft and faded from overuse. He looked… comfortable. And happy. 

With his apparel, it was difficult to tell, but his muscles seemed a bit less defined than the last time Jacob had seen him, and perhaps there was some slight softening around the belly. It didn’t detract from his figure in the least, and that rugged face, that soft, weathered smile? They still looked exactly how Jacob remembered. 

That was the moment Shepard saw him. The smile on his face increased tenfold. Jacob met him halfway across the room when Shepard started in his direction. He was unprepared for the bear hug Shepard wrapped him in. 

“Jacob? Holy  _ shit _ ! It’s so good to see you.” Shepard held him at arm’s length for a moment, looking him over. 

He’d aged, Jacob noted once he actually got up close to his old CO. The fine lines around his eyes were a bit deeper. There were more scars. His hair, which he’d allowed to grow out a bit, was gray at the temples with little shards of silver sprinkled throughout. But those piercing eyes were the same old blue that always saw right through him. 

And Jacob would be lying if he said that the man who stared back at him in the mirror every morning didn’t look a bit worse for the wear since the war’s end, too. “ _ Damn _ , it’s good to see you,” he heard himself say, and the smile he got in return for his efforts stole his breath. 

“You too, Jacob.” Shepard’s voice was low and quiet - intimate, almost. 

“Thought I’d drop in and see if I could finally buy you that drink I promised all those years ago.” 

Shepard glanced around the room as if realizing for the first time that they weren’t alone. “I’m supposed to be on the clock for another half hour,” he said, “but maybe I can sweet talk the shift manager.” His wink hit Jacob square in the solar plexus.

Twenty minutes later, they were ducking out of the London rain and into a quaint little pub with low lights and a quiet atmosphere. “A good place to have a drink when I don’t want to be bothered,” Shepard told him, sliding into a booth. 

“You get bothered when you go out a lot do you?” 

Shepard gave him a sardonic look, then smiled up at the waitress who appeared to be in her late sixties. “Hey, Celeste.”

“Johnny,” Celeste replied in a thick Scottish brogue, “I thought ye’d forgot about us.” 

“Just been busy,” he assured her. “I’ll have the usual, and whatever my friend wants, put it on my tab.” 

“What’s 'the usual'?” Jacob asked with a grin. 

“Akantha, neat,” Shepard said. “It’s an asari liquor. Similar to scotch.” 

“What the hell? Just give me the same.” 

Celeste left to get their drinks; Jacob and Shepard stared at each other for a few moments. “It really  _ is _ good to see you,” Shepard said at length.

Jacob found the butterflies in his stomach hard to ignore. “You, too. So… come here often, eh?” 

Shepard huffed a laugh just as Celeste returned with two glasses of pale green liquid. “Not as often as I used to,” he said, studying the contents of the glass intently, “but yeah.” 

“Recovery’s been a hard road?” 

Shepard shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “But what about you, Jacob? What have you been up to? I heard you turned down the Spectre position.” 

“Yeah, got a kid now. Gotta do right by him. Also gotta show off the obligatory Proud Dad photos.” He pulled up his omnitool and scrolled through a dozen or so shots he’d taken. He couldn’t be more proud of his son. Shepard smiled and commented with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm, but Jacob could tell that he was uncomfortable. 

“How’s Dr. Cole?” Shepard asked when Jacob had put the pictures away. He scratched at a spot on the table with his thumbnail as he spoke. 

“Good. Married to another doctor now. I forget what exactly he does. Something specialized that’s above my understanding.”

Shepard’s brows furrowed as he nodded. 

“It didn’t work out between us, Shepard.” 

Shepard nodded again as though he hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry,” he said after a few awkward minutes. “Genuinely. I know that couldn’t have been easy.” 

“It actually was.” 

The confused expression remained but Shepard’s head slowly came up until Jacob could see into his eyes. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.” 

Jacob sighed. “I wanted to do right by her. And by our son. I tried to make it work and it didn’t. I… I knew I didn’t love her because… I loved someone else.  _ Love  _ someone else. I turned down the Spectre position for something safe and stable in the same area as Brynn for Asher’s sake. To make his life easier. And… I figured you deserved the chance to move on.” It was his turn to find the table fascinating. “Figured I’d blown my chance.” 

Shepard gave a hearty laugh. “That was kinda dumb on your part,” he said when he’d settled down. He reached across the table and took Jacob’s hand in his own. “I mean, we’ve both gone about this rather idiotically, really. If you think about it” 

“True,” Jacob smiled at him.

Shepard finished off his drink and grabbed his cane. “Walk with me?" he asked apologetically. "This leg gets stiff if I sit still too long.” 

Jacob drained his glass as well and followed Shepard out the door. The rain had stopped for the moment, but a biting wind blew up from the river. Inexplicably, that’s the direction that Shepard headed. 

“I know it’s cold, but the crisp air down here always clears my head.” 

“I always thought you were a little weird.” 

“Eccentric,” Shepard corrected with a teasing grin. “Once you reach my star status, the weird things you do are called 'eccentric'.” 

“Duly noted, Commander.” 

“...Could I?” Shepard reached for Jacob’s hand, lacing their fingers together when he didn't protest they slowly moved along the water’s edge. Jacob found that the crisp air really did have a way of clearing his mind. 

As they walked, he was able to study Shepard’s profile. There was a quiet joy radiating from the man. Jacob wasn’t vain enough to think that had to do with him. He hoped it was because the man had found peace after so many years of turmoil. 

“I’m happy,” Shepard said, reading Jacob’s thoughts. He stopped and leaned against the railing overlooking the river. “But I’m lonely. There hasn’t been anyone serious for me… hell, maybe ever.” 

Jacob stayed silent, giving him the time he needed to collect his thoughts. 

Shepard drew a deep breath. “I wanted to say something before, but it was inappropriate. Then after you left the  _ Normandy _ , well… It just wasn’t the right time.”

Jacob snorted at Shepard’s ability to understate the obvious. He earned a grin in return. 

“Fine,” Shepard conceded, giving him a sly glance out of the corner of his eye. “ _ Your _ timing was shit!” 

“Better,” Jacob agreed. “And now?” 

“Now….” Shepard slid a hand along Jacob’s jaw, gently cradling his face. 

Jacob watched Shepard’s eyes as they peered at him, so much emotion contained in a perfect, stormy sea. “Kiss me, Shepard,” he whispered. 

So he did.    
  
His lips were cold and chapped from the brisk wind that whipped around them, but they warmed quickly. Jacob relaxed into the touch as a feeling of rightness swept over him. Drawn to Shepard, he leaned closer to the man, wrapping his arms around him to hold them both steady. 

Shepard cradled his cheeks in both hands, now, tilting their heads to deepen the kiss. The taste of his mouth was as bittersweet as the moment. This should have happened years ago. They could have had this all along. But Shepard pulled away, smiling, breath forming wispy clouds between them. 

“That was so worth the wait.” 


End file.
